Signal attachment for locomotives



Oct. 27,1925. 1, 58,945

J. A. TAYLOR SIGNAL ATTACHMENT FOR LOCOMOTIVES Filed June 1925" 3 Sheets-Sheet l 1 LJ L l 61 M 01 up,

- AJk ZW Oct. 27, 1925.

J. A. TAYLOR SIGNAL ATTACHMENT FOR LOCOMOTIVES Filed June 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 27,1925. 1,55 ,945

J. A. TAYLOR SIGNAL ATTACHMENT FOR LOCOMOTIVES Filed June 1925 3 sh egtbsheot 3 Patented Get. 27, 1925.

A UNITED :S.T AATES" PATENT or fice.

JAMES A. TAYLOR, OEBIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

SIGNAL ATTACHMENT FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

Application filed June 5,1925. Serial No. 35,131.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs A. TAYLOR, a

citizen of the United States, residing atBir? V proper points along the route travelled, the

standard signals being blown without re I wheel and 1ts clutch and adjacent parts;

- uirin an attention from-the en ineer.

Anotherobject is to provide apparatus of this character which can be installed readily and which does not interfere with the actuation of the whistle by the usual means.

It is a well known fact that many of the signals which should be sounded by railway engineers are ignored either through oversight or other causes, and, as a result, many accidents occur which might be avoided.

The engineer sometimes dozes at his post and thus not only fails-to sound the'prop'er signal but also neglects to watch signals. It is an object of the present invention to provide av signal mechanism which, asbefore stated, will operate. automatically so that it practically becomes impossible for the engineer to go to sleep at his post and, consequently, the danger of accidents dueto failure of the whistle to sound or neglect of the engineer to look ahead, are'greatly reduced.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resldes 1n the .combination and arrangement of parts and 1n the details of construction "hereinafter described and claimed, it being understoodthat changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred forms of the invention have been shown.

In said. drawings,

Figure l is a side elevation of a-locomotive equipped with the present improve ments.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through a portion of the mechanism.

Figure 3 is a front elevation ofsaid mechanism.

F gure 4 1S vertical Section through the end portions of one of the cylinders of the mechanism, showing the valves used in connection therewith.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a portion of a track showing an arrangement of tripping cams or blocks. I

- Figure 6 is a side elevation of one of. the valve 'operatingcam wheels of the apparatus.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of a clutch used in connection therewith.

Figure 8 is a section through the cam Figure 9 .is an elevation of a modified form of apparatus.

Figure 10 is a section on line-10 10 Fig ure 9.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates anv attaching plate provided with a bracket 2 to which is secured asteam distributing head 3 providedwith a steam supply pipe 4. Mounted on this head 3 is a series of cylinders 5 equal in number to the number of different kinds of signals to be sounded bythe apparatus. In the present instance only two of these cylinders have been shown but it is to be understood that any desired number of them can each cylinder is mounted a piston 6 having a rod 7 to which is connected a rack 8 adapted to reciprocate vwithin guide brackets 9 extending from the attaching plate 1.

Steam headers 10 andvll are mounted on the attaching plate and a steam supply pipe 12 opens into the lower header lO while a steam outlet pipe 13 leads from the upper header -11-to the whistle of. the locomotive. The two headers .10 and llareconnected by pipes 14 equal in. number to the number of signals to be sounded and each of these pipes includes a valve casing 15 in which is located a gate valve having a projecting stem- 16. This valve is normally closed but is adapted to be opened each time the stem 16 is pressed backwardly. A spring stripv 17 is provided for each stem 16, all of these strips being attached to the lower header 10and having their free ends bearing against the stems 16 and constituting combined wear and deflecting strips/ It will of'course be seen that each time one of the valves is opened steam willflow from the header 10 into the header Bearings 18 are arranged at the ends of the headers 10 and 11 and secured in these is a shaft 19 on which are iournaled clutch disks 20 equal in number to the cylinders 5. Each disk has a pinion 21 secured thereto or integral therewith at one side thereof while in the other side of each clutch disk is formed a recess 22 in which is mounted a spring pawl 23 having a laterally extend ing beveled head 24. Each gear 21 is constantly in mesh with one of the racks 8.

A cam disk is mounted for rotation on the shaft 19 at one side of each disk 20, said cam =disk being provided at one side with a circular series of ratchet teeth 26 any one of which is adapted to be engaged by the head 24 o'tjpawl Thus when disk :20 is rotated in one direction by rack 8 and gear 21 the pawl will cause the disk 25 to rotate therewith but. when di'sk20 is operated in the opposite direction the pawl will slip over the ratchet teeth Y26 and thus leave disk 25 stationary. A ratchet 27 is provided on one face of thedisk 25 and is adapted to be engaged by a dog 28 pivotally mounted on a rod 29 which is supported by the bearings 18. This dog and the ratchet cooperating therewith serves to hold the cam disk against retrograde movement. It is of course to be understood that one group con sisting of gear 21, disk 20. disk 25 and ratchet 27 is provided for each cylinder Each disk 25 is located in line with one of the valve stems 16 and each disk is provided on its periphery with radial wings 30. These wings on each disk are adapted to move successively a ainst the adjacent spring strip 1 7 so that each wing will depress or shift the valve stem 16 and hold the valve open for a perioddependent upon the length of the wing. For example, and as shown in Figure 2, one of the disks 25 has two long wings 30 and two short wings. 'lhus during one complete rotation of the disk .25 these wings will move successively into position to actuate the valve stem 16 with the result that the valve will be actuated to cause the whistle to- .sound two long blasts and two short blasts tor a crossing. The rack 8 and the gear 21 are proportioned so that during each complete upward movement of the rack the gear 21 will he given'one complete rotation.

Each cylinder '5 is .provided. at its upper end, with a valve casing 31 opening into the cylinder. Another valve casing 32 opens into the lower end of each cylinder. The upper valve casing has a steam supply pipe 33 extending thereto from the head 3 and mounted for rotation in the casing 31 is a three way valve 34. Valve casing 31 also has a vent 35 opening .to the atmosphere. Valve 34 has a radial arm 36 and this arm is connected by a rod 37 to another radial arm 33 extending from a three Way valve 39 into casing 3;. This casing has a vent 40 opening 'to the atmosphere and also has a steam supply pipe opening thereinto from the head 3. A handle 42 is extended from arm so that the parts can be operated by hand if desired. The upper end of rod 3'? is connected by a chain 43 or the like to the rack 8 extending from the rod of the piston located inthe cylinder with which the valves are associated.

Mounted in the lower portion of the locomotive preterably directly. below cylinders 5 are bell cranks 44 equal in number to the rods 37 and each bell crank is connected by a chain 45 or the like to its rod 37. A cross rod 46 is located under the trontportion of the locomotive and .extendsthrough 47 the upper endsot which are connected by rods 48 to the respective bell cranks 44. These levers 47 are located side by side and each of them has a tripping finger 49 .depending 'thereitrou'i. The lingers are so lorated that, during the forward movement of the locomotive each finger will engage and be shifted by one of the tripping blocks 50 which are arranged between the rails R ot the track. These blocks are located dittcrent distances from the center of the track the position of each block determining which signal will be sounded when the locomotive passes thereover.

Under normal conditions the lower ends of the cylinders are open to the atmosphere through the vent 40 while the upper valves 34 maintain communication between the steam pipes 33 and the upper ends of the cylinders 5 so that the pistons 6 are thus held in their lowermost position. "This arrangement of the valves has been illustrated in Figure 4. During the forward. movement of the locomotive one oft the fingers 49 will come against one of the blocks 50 and be swung backwardly thereby. Thus the proper signal to be sounded at this point will be actuated. If a crossing signal is to be sounded a mechanism such as illustrated in Figure 2 will be actuated. in other words the backward movement of finger 49 will cause rod 48 to pull on one of the bell cranks 44. This, in turn, will .pull through the chain 45 upon the valve arm'38. Thus valve 39 will be shifted to establish communication bet-ween steam pipe 41 and the lower end of cylinder 5. At the same time rod 37 will pull downwardly on arm and turn valve 34 so as to place the upper end of the cylinder in communication with port 35. The steam pressure under piston 6 wil force said piston upwardly but the speed of movement will depend upon the rapidity of the escape of air through the port 35. As the piston moves upwardly at a predetermined speed rod 8 will also move upwardly and will impart one complete rotation to the gear .21. Pawl 23 will likewise impart com-- plete rotation to the disk 25 and during this rotation of the disk the wings radiating therefrom will be brought successively against strip 17 and cause the valve stem 16 to be actuated. Thus the desired signal will be sounded. When the rack 8 reaches the upper limit of its movementthe chain 43 or other flexible connection used will be pulled taut .and will swing the arm 36 up wardly to its initial position. Thismotion will also be transmitted through rod 37 to arm 38. Consequently steam will be admitted from pipe 33 into the top of the cylinder 5 while the bottom portion will ,be placed win communication with the atmosphere.

Thus the piston will be forced downwardly to its initial position. During this return movement the dog 28 will hold disk 25 against retrograde movement, and, consequently, the parts will be reset for further actuation.

- i As before explained thedisks 20 are provided with difierent arrangements of wings for producing desired signals and the disks are controlled by difl'erent tripping fingers .49 located at different distances from the center of the locomotive. Thus by placing the tripping blocks at desired distances from the center of the rail the proper trip- K ping fingers will be actuated to produce the desired signals at predetermined points.

It is to be understood that other means than those heretofore described can be used for properly sounding the Whistle. For ex ample, instead of utilizing the rotating disk with the valve actuating wings, slide valves such as shown in Figures 9 and 10 can be employed. In this modified construction there are provided lower and upper steam headers 51 and 52 extending across a series of steam chests 53which are out of'coinmunication with each other. ply pipe 54 opens into the header 51 while an outlet pipe 55 extends from the header 52 to the whistle.

is mounted a slide valve 57 connected by a rod 58 to a piston mounted in a cylinder as hereinbefore explained.

A port 59 connects the header 52 with each steam chest and one slide valve 57 is mounted in each steam chest, these slide valves 57 normally closing the ports.

A recess 60 is formed in each steam chest between header. 52 and slide valve 57 and in this recess is slidably mounted a cut ofi plate 61. This plate has pins 62 extending therefrom and slidably engaged by the valve 57. In other words the sides of the valve 57 are cut away to provide elon-E gated recesses into which the pins extend and the end walls of these cutaway portions constituteshoulders or abutments as indicated at .63. Each p ate .1 is n r y O- A steam sup-' Ports 56 maintain communi.-- cation between the header 51and the respective steam chests 53 and 111 each steam chest sitioned away from the port 59 and remains in such position during the greaterportion ofthe movement of the slide valve 57 but as the slide valve approachesits other. limit of its movement one of the end shoulders 63 engages each pin'62 and shifts the plate 61 to position across the port 59 so as to close said port. The plate will remain in this position during the downward or return movement of the slide valve until the shoulders 63 adjacent the other end of said valve come against the pins 62 and return the plate 61 toits normal position. It might be stated that steam pressure serves to hold the plate 61 in any position to which it may be moved until it is shifted by'the moving valve 57. V 7

Each of the slide valves 57 is provided with a series of ports which can be of. clifferent sizes, these-ports. being indicated at 64;. Thus as the valve moves in one direction the ports are brought successively into register with the port 59 so that steam is admitted from chests 53 into the header 52 and sounds the whistle. The size and arrangement of the ports controlthe nature of the signal given. For example where two long ports and two short ones are provided in the slidevalve 57 as shown at the left of Figure 9, two long blasts and two .shown in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive.

- It is to be understood of course that either steam or (20111131'8SS6d air can be used for operating this mechanism.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described the combination with'a pressure controlling valve, of a cylinder, a piston therein, means for directing pressure normally against one face of the piston to-hold said piston in one position, trip operated means for reversing pressure upon the piston to shift the piston to a second position and means actuated by the piston during said movement for actuating the pressure controlling valves 2. In an apparatus of the class described the combination with a pressure controlling valve, of a cylinder, a piston therein, means for directing pressure normally against one face of the piston to hold said piston in one position, trip operated means ferrevet's-ing pressure upon the piston to shift the piston to a second position, :mea-ns ac tuated by the piston during said movement for actuating the pressure controlling valve, and means operated by the piston during the completion of said movement for reversing the pressure upon the piston to reset the mechanism.

3. Locomotive signal apparatus including a valve for controlling pressure to a whistle or the like, a cylinder, a piston therein,

means for directing pressure to both ends of the cylinder, separate valves for controlling the flow of pressure to said ends of the cylinder, there being a vent controlled 'byeach valve, one of said valves being normally positioned to direct pressure against the piston to hold it in one position and the other valve being normally positioned to maintain the vent open, trip operated mechanism for reversing the valves to shift the piston to a second position and open the normally closed vent for the escape of pressure from the path of the piston, means operated by said movement of the piston for-actuating the first valve to sound a predetermined signal, and means operated by the piston for reversing the cylinder valves and restoring the piston by pressure to its normal position.

4. Locomotive signal apparatus including a valve for controlling pressure to a Whistle or the like, a cylinder, a piston therein, means for directing pressure to both ends 01 the cylinder, separate valves for con trolling the flow of pressure to said ends of the cylinder, there being a vent controlled by each valve, one o f said valves being nor mally positioned to direct pressure against the piston to hold it in one position and the other valve being normally positioned to maintain the vent open, trip operated mechanisn-i for reversing said valves to shift the piston to a second position and open the normally closed vent for the escape of pressure from the path of the piston, means operated by said movement of the piston for actuating the first valve to sound a predetermined signal, means operated by the piston for reversing the cylinder valves and'restoring the piston by pressure to its normal position, and means for preventing sounding of the signal during the movement of the piston to normal position.

5. In a locomotive signal apparatus the combination with a valve for controlling the flow of pressure to a whistle, ot a cylinder,

a piston therein, means for directing pressure to both ends of the cylinder, valves for controlling the flow of pressure to the cylinder, one of said valves being normally open to the atmosphere and the other valve being normally positioned to direct pressure into the cylinder and hold the piston normally in one position, relatively fixed and movable means controlled by the movement of the locomotive on which the apparatus is mounted for reversing the valves of \the cylinder, thereby to direct pressure against the piston to shift it to a second position and to open the cylinder to the atmosphere to permit escape of pressure in the path of the piston, means operated by said movement of the piston for actuating the first valve to sound a signal, and means operated by the piston when brought to said second position for reversing the cylinder valves, thereby to return the piston to normal positions.

6. The combination with a locomotive, and a valve for controlling the flow of pressure to the whistle of said locomotive, of a tripping lever movably supported by the locomotive, a cylinder, a piston therein, means for directing pressure to both ends of the cylinder, valves for controlling the flow of pressure, one of said valves normally maintaining communication betweenthe cylinder and the atn'iosphere and the other valve normally maintaining con'imunication between the cylinder and the pressure supply, means in the path of the tripping lever for actuating said lever during the movement of the locomotive, means operated by the tripping lever for reversing the cylinder valves to direct the piston to a second position and to permit the gradual escape of pressure from the path of the piston to the atmos phere, and means operated by the movement of the piston to said second position for actuating the first valve to sound a predetermined signal.

T The combination with a locomotive, and a valve for controlling the flow of pressure to the whistle of said locomotive, of a tripping lever movably supported by the locomotive, a cylinder, a piston therein, means for directing pressure to both ends of the cylinder, valves for controlling the flow of pressure, one of said valves normally maintaining communication between the cylinder and the atmosphere and the other valve normally maintaining communication between the cylinder and the pressure supply, means in the path of the tripping lever for actuating said lever during the movement of the locomotive, means operated by the tripping lever for reversing the cylinder valves to direct the piston to a second position and to permit the gradual escape of pressure from the path of the piston to the atmosphere, means operated by the move ment of the piston to said second position for actuating the first valve "to sound a predetermined signal, means operated by the piston when brought to said second position for reversing the valve to return the piston and cooperatingparts to their normal positions, and means for preventing sounding of the whistle during said return movement.

8. The combination with a valve for controlling the flow of pressure toa whistle, of

a cylinder, a piston therein, means for d1- recting pressure into both ends of the cylinder, valves for controlling the flow or pressure into the cylinder, one of said valves normally maintaining communication between the cylinder and the atmosphere and the other valve normally admitting pressure to the cylinder, a disk having a cam wing, trip operated means for reversing the valves of the cylinder to direct the piston to a second position, and means operated by said piston during said movement for rotating the disk to bring its wing into position to actuate the valve of the whistle.

9. The combination with a valve for controlling pressure to a whistle, of a cylinder, means for directing pressure to each end of the cylinder, valvesfor controlling the flow of pressure to said cylinder, one of said valves being normally open to the atmosphere to allow the flow of pressure from the cylinder, a piston normally held by pressure at one end of the cylinder, a disk mounted for rotation, tripping mechanism for reversing the valves to actuate the piston, means operated by the piston when actuated in one direction for rotating the disk, means extending from the CllSl 'fO1 actuating the pressure controlling valve first mentioned, means actuated by the piston when brought to one limit of its movement for reversing the'cylinder valves, thereby to return the piston and connected parts to their normal positions, and means for bolding the disk against rotation during the return movement of the piston.

10. The combination with a locomotive and separate trips over which the locomotive is adapted to travel, of tripping levers carried by the locomotivefor engagement with the respective trip members, separate signal controlling valves, a cylinder for each valve,

a piston mounted in each cylinder, means for directing pressure into both ends of each cylinder, valvesfor controlling the flow of pressure to said ends of each cylinder, one of the valves normally directing pressure into the cylinder and the other valve establishing communication between the cylinder and the atmosphere,'means operated by eachtripping lever for shifting the valves of one of the cylinders to reverse pressure in the cylinder, thereby to direct the piston to a second position and means actuated by the piston when moved to said second position for shifting the valve of the signal t sound a predetermined signal. I

11. The combination with a locomotive and separate trips over which the locomotive is adapted to travel, of tripping levers carried by the locomotive for engagement with the respective trip members, separate signal controlling valves, a cylinder for each valve, a piston'-mounted in each, cylinder, means for directing pressure into both ends of each cylinder, valves for controlling the flow of pressure to said ends of the cylinder, one

of the valves normally directing pressure in to the cylinder and the other valve establishing communication between the cylinder and the atmosphere, means operated by each tripping lever for shifting the valves of one of the cylinders to reverse pressure in the cylinder, thereby to reset the piston, means actuated by the piston when moved to said second position for shifting the valve of the signal to sound a predetermined signal, and means operated by each piston when shifted to said second position for reversing the pressure in its cylinder, thereby to return the piston and connected parts to their normal positions.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiiixed my signature.

JAMES TAYLOR. 

